CHICKEN POLICE
Following Chicken Police: Paint it RED, its much-anticipated sequel Chicken Police: Into the Hive has emerged and promises players another incredible experience. I had the pleasure of playing the first installation and discussing it on a few of our podcast episodes. Imagine my excitement when I heard of a sequel demo coming to PAX — I just couldn’t resist playing it!
Chicken Police: Into the Hive transports players to a place sometime after the curtains closed on the original game. This time around, a dark cloud looms as the death of a colleague shakes the core of our beloved feathered characters. This unexpected twist beckons the return of the familiar cast, who now find themselves banding together once more to decipher their comrade's mysterious demise.
As for its mechanics, Chicken Police: Into the Hive feels pretty reminiscent of its predecessor. Its gameplay includes timeless point-and-click adventures that many of us have grown to adore. And it's not just about the clicks; each interaction initiates voice-acted dialogues that serve as windows into the universe of Chicken Police. These well-executed narratives give depth to the characters, making the experience all the more immersive.
But that's not all. While the first game was praised for its brilliantly crafted noir aesthetics in monochrome, Chicken Police: Into the Hive brings something fresh to the table: the game now introduces a vibrant color mode — a delightful alternative for those who want a break from the classic black and white.
For those who've journeyed through the gritty streets of the original Chicken Police: Paint it RED, this sequel is like a homecoming. If you have a penchant for stellar voice-acting coupled with captivating storytelling, Chicken Police: Paint it RED and Chicken Police: Into the Hive are just what you’re looking for.
Sam: And welcome to Game Raven's Review of our coverage of PAX West. I am here with Chicken Police: Into the Hive. Introduce yourself real quick for the audience.
Tamás: Hey guys, I'm Tamás Sinka. I'm working for The Wild Gentlemen as a developer.
Sam: And I guess tell us a little bit also about the game.
Tamás: Okay, so Chicken Police: Into the Hive is a direct sequel to Chicken Police: Paint it RED, which was released in 2020. If you don't know, this is very narrative-heavy with lots of dialogue, a character-driven, adventure game. We call it an “Animal Noir Game”. Basically, the main characters of the game are anthropomorphic characters with animal heads and human bodies. And the two chickens who are the main characters of the game, Sunny and Marty, are the infamous chicken police duo, who are just investigating all kinds of cases. And this time it's much more personal than the first story because one of their colleagues was murdered. And they have to get into the Hive, which is the most dangerous part of the city, I mean, Clawville. And they have to investigate that. That's the basic stuff where the story picks up. And actually it's much like the first game, I mean, you have to investigate, you have to interrogate. There are some puzzles, some mini-games, and action-style mini-games as well. And the main new thing is that the story is just set, but you can have different choices during the game. So replayability got a boost from the first one. And also the other main thing is that you can play the game in color as well. And it is a difficult choice for us because we just like the style, the film noir style, which is very much influenced by the 40s movies, like Humphery Bogart movies and stuff like that. But lots of people don't really like to play in black and white, and also we just wanted to show how beautiful the graphics are. So we just decided to give it to the hands of the players how they want to play it. They can choose at the beginning of the game and throughout the game, anytime they can change it, that if they want to play it in black and white or in color. So that's another factor too if you want to replay the game again and explore everything in the game.
Sam: Between this and Chicken Police, which I played Chicken Police: Paint it RED and I really loved it. I love the charm, I love the characters, and I love the voice acting. Like, the voice acting matches what I believe these characters would sound like in my opinion. So from, I guess, one and two, what was the motivation to make this game?
Tamás: Well actually, well I'm not really the right person to answer but I will try because I think our narrative designer really, really enjoyed this world and also as developers, we all do. So he and me, everybody in the team have lots of other ideas of how to expand this universe and actually, he had a lot more ideas. So, from the beginning, it was an idea to have a sequel as well. And the Hive was also represented in the first game. So it was mentioned that you can be able to explore it more so this is the time to do it.
Sam: Okay. And then again, this might not be a question directly for you but if you could go back to day one and tell yourself something that you know now about this game, about the development, what advice would you give yourself?
Tamás: Maybe I'm not the right person to answer it. Sorry. Because actually I'm quite new to the team so I was not part of the development team on the first one.
Sam: Oh, okay.
Tamás: But I can tell you that the team nearly doubled.
Sam: Oh wow, okay.
Tamás: The first game was like five people made it and now just at least eight people constantly working on this game and a couple of others, like four or three just partly in the development.
Sam: Okay.
Tamás: So we have a much more human workforce.
Sam: Okay. Is there a release date or window right now?
Tamás: We just have a release window, which is 2024, the first half of 2024.
Sam: Alright. Thank you so much for taking this time out with me today.
Tamás: Yeah. I can also tell you that there will be a public demo at the beginning of 2024.
Sam: Oh, really? Okay.
Tamás: So you might want to check it out and it will be much more expanded than this one here at PAX.
Sam: And that's going to be on Steam?
Tamás: Yeah, it's on Steam.
Sam: Alright. Definitely. Thank you so much.
Tamás: Thank you.
